There is a key missing point in the research field of zinc metal batteries (ZMBs)
that is, no one pays attention to the crystal growth of byproducts. In this paper, from the perspective of crystallography, a method of disturbing the crystal growth of corrosion byproducts is proposed to improve the serious water-related corrosion in ZMBs. In consideration of the thermodynamics and dynamics of crystallization, the corrosion inhibitor (CI) molecules are introduced to envelop the active growth sites of byproduct crystals and increase the surface free energy change (Δ